Dubai Five former executives were handed different jail terms and ordered to pay nearly Dh45 million which they appropriated from Tamweel in one of the longest-standing trials of graft cases since 2008.
Following nearly three years of deliberations before the Dubai Appeal Court, Presiding Judge Mustafa Al Shennawi yesterday convicted Tamweel’s ex-CEO, Emirati A.A., and his two countrymen, A.N. [the ex-commercial president] and S.M. [former executive director], along with two Jordanians, F.K. [investment department’s ex-director of Tamweel] and Bonyan Holding’s ex-board chairman A.S. of abuse of office and committing financial irregularities.
The case was also handled by the Dubai Court of First Instance between 2008 and 2010.
According to the judgement, Presiding Judge Al Shennawi ordered A.A., A.S. and A.N. to jointly pay a fine of Dh21.28 million.
A.A. and A.N. were also jointly fined Dh13.8 million and ordered to jointly repay an amount of 3.8 million to Tamweel.
Meanwhile S.M. and A.N. were jointly fined Dh3.7 million and ordered to jointly repay Dh3.7 million to Tamweel.
According to the appellate judgment A.A. and A.N. had their three-year imprisonment upheld. Meanwhile S.M., F.K. and A.S. had their one-year jail terms confirmed.
The appellate court reached its judgment after a three-member committee of experts revised the partnership deals signed between Tamweel and Bonyan in 2007.
The court-appointed committee looked into all the case documents and papers before handing its report to the Appeal Court following nearly two years of inspection.
The judgement remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
The three-member committee included a financial auditor, an expert specialized in pricing lands and properties and a financial accountant.
The court authorised the committee to reinvestigate and revise all documents pertaining to a graft case involving four ex-Tamweel executives and a former Bonyan executive, who prosecutors charged of committing financial irregularities worth Dh45 million.
The financial auditor from Rulers Court’s Financial Control Department (FCD) chaired the committee which includes an expert from the Department of Lands and Properties and a financial accountant [from those listed with Dubai Courts]. The committee was tasked to examine how much A.A. and S.M. paid to reserve for land plots and what was the cost for every square foot and overall price.
It also investigated whether the plots were sold at a price convenient to that mentioned in the agreement signed between Tamweel and Bonyan on August 8, 2007. The committee also revised whether the prices were suitable to the market value, how much did each defendant profit from the sale process and whether Tamweel suffered any losses.
